Prospective evaluation of impact of structured yoga program on inflammatory biochemical profile, anxiety, and sleep quality index among asthma patients – An open-label, randomized controlled trial

Abstract BACKGROUND: Yoga is being increasingly recognized as a complementary approach to managing chronic health conditions like asthma. However, its effect on inflammatory biomarkers, lung function, anxiety, and sleep quality needs to be further explored. Our study concurrently investigates multiple health parameters that are needed to provide more robust evidence for the effectiveness of yoga as a therapeutic intervention. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of yoga interventions on the biochemical inflammatory markers (interleukin IL-6 and periostin), lung functions, sleep quality, and psychological well-being in asthma patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a single-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial. A total of 191 asthma patients were randomized (1:3) into a control group ( n = 48) receiving standard treatment and a yoga group ( n = 143) receiving standard treatment plus a structured yoga program thrice weekly for 8 weeks. RESULTS: Forty participants from the yoga group completed the study. Significant improvements were seen in forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, Asthma Control (Asthma Control Test ACT), anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory BAI), and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index PSQI) among those in the yoga group ( P < 0.05). There was a drop in levels of IL-6 and periostin levels in the intervention group. When comparing the two groups, statistically significant improvements were found in ACT, BAI, and PSQI favoring the yoga group, while lung function and biochemical markers did not show significant differences between the groups. CONCLUSION: Adjunct yoga therapy in asthma patients significantly improves lung function, asthma control, anxiety, and sleep quality and also leads to reductions in inflammatory biomarker levels compared to standard treatment alone. Yoga may serve as a beneficial complementary approach to enhance the quality of life in asthma management.